Regional MEL Qualitative Consultant

Background of the project

The International Rescue Committee (IRC)’s Regional Early Childhood Development (ECD) team seeks to generate learning on what works to improve young children’s wellbeing, development and learning across humanitarian and development settings, with a particular focus on the MENA Region. The Learning Agenda supports the IRC team to use findings from across the project to inform policy and programmatic decisions by IRC and its partners that can drive greater impact for children and caregivers. Learning will be communicated internally and externally to inform policy, advocacy, and program decisions in support of ECD in humanitarian and development settings. The learning agenda is implemented in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. The Learning Agenda is organized around 15 learning questions across 4 domains: Domain 1. Strategic Fit, Relevance, and Coherence Domain 2. Local Partnerships, Ownership, and Institutionalization Domain 3. Fidelity Domain 4. Scalability and Sustainability

Scope of work

1. Country ECD program teams and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) teams in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan will be conducting approximately 20 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with partner organizations to respond to the 4 learning domains in the learning agenda. These qualitative interviews will happen between August 2016 and May 2017, and transcripts/ notes will be primarily shared in Arabic (although few might be in English). The consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks: 1) Summarize each transcript into main points that align with the 15 learning questions and 4 learning domains. 2) Translate summary points that are in Arabic to English. If transcripts/notes were already in English, no need to translate them to Arabic. 3) Extract important quotations from the transcripts that could further support the analysis. 4) When each country finalizes all their qualitative interviews and the summary points are finalized in English, conduct thematic analysis of all the interviews per country (i.e. thematic analysis for Syria, thematic analysis for Lebanon, and thematic analysis for Jordan). 5) Develop three learning reports in English for each country program, that respond to the 15 learning questions and 4 learning domains. 6) Conduct regional analysis and synthesis for the learnings that synthesize main findings across the countries. 7) Develop a regional learning report in English, that responds to the 15 learning questions and 4 learning domains.

Deliverables

1) Summary notes in English for each qualitative interview conducted in countries.

2) Three learning reports (one for each country) in English

3) Regional learning report in English

Work schedule This work schedule is an example, but it could change depending on how many interviews countries conduct per month. Flexibility is an important factor to consider, as number of days may shift each month; therefore, a timesheet will be requested for payment purposes. May 2027 is the heaviest because Year 2 of this project finishes at the end of May, and this is the month where the country learning reports will be developed, as well as regional synthesis and a learning report. This consultancy assignment might be extended for Year 3 (i.e. after May 2027) depending on the needs of the project and the availability and performance of the consultant. The expected number of working days for each month is as follows:

November 2026: 2 days

December 2026: 2 days

January 2027: 2 days

February 2027: 2 days

March 2027: 2 days

April 2027: 2 days

May 2027: 5–8 days

Total expected duration: 17–20 days.

Payment Rate and Schedule:

2. Payments will be made upon approved work completed and timesheets submitted each month. If IRC is not satisfied with the quality of any deliverable, the consultant will revise without incurring additional billable days.

- Daily Rate: USD 200

- Total Estimated Days: 17-20 days

- Total Contract Value: USD 3400 - 4000

- Payments are released as follows (indicative, but may shift depending on how many days theconsultant works each month. A timesheet will be requested for payment purposes):

o End of November 2026: 2 days

o End of December 2026: 2 days

o End of January 2027: 2 days

o End of February 2027: 2 days

o End of March 2027: 2 days

o End of April 2027: 2 days

o End of May 2027: 5-8 days

Requirements and Qualifications:

- Demonstrated experience in qualitative data analysis, including thematic coding and synthesisof findings from FGDs and KIIs. - Experience conducting qualitative research, learning reviews, evaluations, or applied researchin humanitarian and/or development settings. - Ability to synthesize large volumes of qualitative data into concise findings, themes, evidence based conclusions, and actionable recommendations. - Experience developing learning products, reports, briefs, and presentations for technical and non-technical audiences. - Strong analytical writing and editing skills. - Experience working with multi-country or regional research and learning initiatives is highly desirable. - Professional proficiency in both Arabic and English. - Knowledge of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL/MEL) approaches and frameworks. - Understanding of Early Childhood Development (ECD), education, parenting, or child wellbeing programming is strongly preferred. - Familiarity with humanitarian and development contexts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, is an asset. - Strong communication and collaboration skills, including experience working remotely with regional and country teams (if needed). - Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive qualitative information appropriately.